China tops list of lenders to Kenya

CHINA was the top country that advanced bilateral loans to Kenya in 2017, latest data from the Treasury shows.

China gave Kenya Sh520bn ($5.2bn) for the period ending December 2017. The Treasury data shows that China loans to the Kenyan government have been growing since December 2015 when it advanced the government a total of Sh273bn.

Other major lenders are Japan Sh82.48bn, France Sh62.25bn, Germany Sh32.46bn, and Belgium Sh10bn.

In total, foreign countries advanced a total of Sh758bn to the government during the period under review.

The Chinese loan surpassed the International Development Association and International Fund for Agricultural Development facilities for the first time.

The multilateral institutions advanced the government Sh518bn for the period ending December 2017.

‘The external public debt stock increased by Sh42.5bn from Sh185bn on December 2016 to Sh227bn by end of December last year,’ the Treasury report indicated.